Dean Wareham & Cheval Sombre to release an album of western dreampop – covers and traditional songs from Marty Robbins to Magnetic Fields.

Sep 22, 2018

Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna) and Cheval Sombre are to release an upcoming “western dream pop” entitled, Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre, out October 26 via Double Feature Records. Dean Wareham founded Galaxie 500 and Luna and has made 15 studio albums. One-man-band Cheval Sombre (Chris Porpora) hails from the Hudson River, NY. He has released two prior albums, produced by Sonic Boom with Dean & Britta and Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser of MGMT.

The genesis of Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre can be traced back to the early 2000s when Porpora began writing and recording songs in a studio apartment on the Hudson River, NY. After sending demos to Sonic Boom, recording sessions took place in 2006, supported by guest musicians Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips. His debut album Cheval Sombre was eventually released on Double Feature Records, Wareham’s label. Yet it wasn’t until a decade later when the two decided to take their collaborations one step further. Dean notes, “a few years ago, when Chris was recuperating from an illness, laid up in bed and under the influence of painkillers, I sent him a Youtube video of Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson singing “My Rifle, My Pony & Me” (in the film Rio Bravo). I think that was the seed of this idea – to make an album of western songs together.” Wareham continues, “I’ve played on the Cheval Sombre records and I’ve recorded a couple of his songs myself. He has a strange and beautiful voice; like a stoner from another dimension, and when he interprets other people’s songs, he often turns them into something unrecognizable.”

Dean and Chris recorded this album of western-themed songs at Palmetto Recordings in downtown Los Angeles with producer Jason Quever (Papercuts, Beach House), backed by a band including Britta Phillips (Luna, Dean & Britta), Anthony LaMarca (the War on Drugs) and Will Halsey (Sugarcandy Mountain).